Nadeau

SONOMA, Calif. -- Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful race...

Jerry Nadeau can empathize with Gilligan and the rest of the castaways of Gilligan's Island. Nadeau knows exactly what it's like to be stranded helplessly on a deserted island -- only without the refreshing drinks in the coconut cup.

Nadeau was cruising along, well on the way to his second career victory, when an unexpected storm left him shipwrecked on the former pit section at Infineon Raceway known as Gilligan's Island on Sunday.

Gilligan's Island at the Sonoma, Calif., track no longer houses the pit spaces for the final nine qualifiers, but Nadeau was forced to pull aside to the barren space near Turn 11 of the track after breaking the rear end of his No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge. At the time of his misfortune, Nadeau was leading the Dodge/Save Mart 350 with only three laps remaining.

Nadeau had to watch helplessly as Ricky Rudd took over the lead and eventually won the race three laps later.

"I had plenty of fuel. The car was great. Temperatures were great. I would have really had to screw up bad for Ricky Rudd to catch me," recounted Nadeau.

	Nadeau ultimately finished 34th.

"I just spun the gear. That's a weird deal. I'm usually pretty easy on equipment unless I wreck. Unfortunately, it broke the gear."

Rudd can empathize with Nadeau, but he'll take the win nonetheless.

"Jerry could have definitely used the shot in the arm with a win today," said Rudd, "but we've lost some races the last three weekends under very similar conditions."

"We sort of were resigned to the fact that we ran out of time and were going to run second today, when all of a sudden, his misfortune -- he pulled over -- and we won the race."

"It's not something you want to be bragging about and be proud of it," continued Rudd, who won for the 23rd time in his Winston Cup career, "but, again, we've lost some (in the same manner)."

For those following the path that Nadeau's career has taken, they can't be surprised at the final results for the unlucky driver on Sunday.

Nadeau started the season with Hendrick Motorsports, but struggled mightily. He was finally released by the team after the Richmond, Va., race in May.

He landed a temporary ride in the No. 10 Valvoline Pontiac after Johnny Benson was injured, but found himself once again looking for a ride after Benson returned for the Pocono 500.

Nadeau was again on the sidelines until Kyle Petty gave him the seat in the No. 44 car of Steve Grissom for the road-course race here. And Nadeau looked like he was going to repay the favor until the wheels fell off.

"He was incredibly impressive," said Petty. "He was struggling over there in the No. 25 car, but obviously this will help his confidence.

"It showed that Jerry Nadeau can drive a car and it helped our guys' confidence on the No. 44 team."

Nadeau is accustomed to seeing victory snatched from his hands. Last year at Atlanta, he was leading with one lap remaining before running out of fuel. With so much bad luck of late, one couldn't blame Nadeau for being bitter. But he's keeping it all in perspective.

"It's unfortunate, but that's kind of the way my career has gone," said Nadeau. "I'm humble about it. It's no big deal, and we'll go get 'em at Chicago."

Nadeau is relinquishing the seat of the No. 44 back to Grissom and will skip the next Winston Cup race, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Raceway. He'll resurface the next weekend at Chicago in a car owned by Michael Waltrip. But Petty doesn't rule out a return for Nadeau.

"We made some commitments to Steve Grissom," explained Petty. "Jerry is committed to Michael Waltrip and that crowd to run Chicago. Maybe when (we) get past that point, we'll sit down and talk to him again."

Nadeau would surely appreciate any form of rescue from what has been a pretty miserable season and a temporarily marooned career. An extension of his "three-hour tour" with Petty would be ideal, but for right now he wants to just prepare for his next race.

"I'm not emotional at all," said a stone-faced Nadeau. "I just want to get home. I've got a test tomorrow with Michael Waltrip in Chicago."

"I've got to thank everybody with Georgia Pacific Dodge and Petty Enterprises. They did a terrific job."

For a castaway like Nadeau, it's got to feel pretty good to feel wanted once again -- and make a 34th-place finish feel like a win.